What keeps me alive is a comment Nick McKinnon said to me one day.... "don't embaress yourself by getting killed on this pile of poxy Victorian rubbish" as i was sketching out drytooling up a loose rock/snow gully on Mt Bogong in the Victorian Alps. If you are going to go out with style then at least find a decent mountain to do it on - ie K2!!

Rob Slater, El Cap basejumper and climber extraordinarire who unfortunately perished in the same storm on K2 in which Alison Hargreaves died in the mid 90's, said about the looming K2 trip (as recounted by Randy Leavitt) "Summit or death, either way I win"

"Sometimes I'd get mad because things didn't work out, I'd spoil a flapjack or slip in the snowfield while out getting water, or one time my shovel went sailing down into the gorge, and I'd be so mad I'd want to bite the mountaintops and would come in the shack andkick the cupboard and hurt my toe. But let the mind beware, that though the flesh be bugged, the circumstances of existence are pretty glorious."

Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums.

For some reason this quote takes on extra meaning when read after 2 shots of espresso while sitting in the sun outside on the Manly ferry.

Warming up is the biggest bunch of horseshit I've ever heard in my life. Fifteen minutes to warm up! Does a lion warm up when he's hungry? 'Uh-oh, here comes an antelope. Better warm up.' No! He just goes out and eats the sucker. You gotta get the blood circulating, but shit, does the lion cool down? No, he eats the sucker and goes to sleep.

When friends come to climb on my bouldering wall, I ask them to leave a paint hand print, and some wisdom, either their own or a quote that they like... here are some of my fav's...

Enter the fray having resolved to win or die, being fully aware that the only alternative to death is to do what is needed in the struggle... Sun Wu must surely have been a trad climber!

There's always beer at the top or somewhere handy if you know where your priorities lie... 'Bean is a friend of mine from Colorado who is a good climber and has a great approach to life

Women and cats will do as they please, men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea... got this from Bean's partner Tall Boy, not sure if he owns it or if he was the medium (!!!) but it is nice all the same (What's that? yes dear...)

Fear is freedom's enemy, and it's become quite clear to me, that I've been fighting with myself for far to long... James was singer in a band I played in who had a nice turn of phrase